M1010 K30 -- Budget build (Back from the dead and considering 54" springs...)

[Fred_M1010]

My build is at a stand-still for the moment, so I thought I might as well start a build-thread and post some pics, while I wait for the inspiration to return
All feedback are welcome both good and bad!
(I know spelling and grammar sucks though, so you don't have to point that out )

My first build was a 2500 silverado, but that was both expensive and
not very reliable offroad (6" lift and 37" tires).

So this time I started with a -84 CUCV K30, with the plan to make it as cheap as possible.

This is how it looked before I messed it up.
It's an M1010 ambulance, that served in Desertstorm (from what I heard), but later got imported to Sweden, where it served as an ambulance in a swedish mine before I bought it.

EDIT: Sneak preview after modifications:


I started working on it this winter.
First I installed 56" springs up front.
I lenghtened the framerails a bit for the front bolt to fit after I relocated the front spring-hangers.

I really liked the CUCV tow-hooks, so I welded a piece of angle iron to them for two of the spring-hanger holes.

I left the rear shackle mounts in their original position.
I measured along the arch on the springs to see how long they could be at maximum.
Then I used that measurement to determine how long shackles I needed.
It ended up 8.25" c/c (with reinforcement)
I let the reinforcement follow the profile of the frame with a 1/4" space in between,
when the shackle is in it's rearmost position.
That makes it a little stronger without making the shackle unnecessary long

This is how the shackle-angle looked like at ride-height

If you think the leafpacks looks funny, it's because they DO look funny.
I got a pair of main-leafs for free, so in the hillbilly-spirit of this build I mixed and matched up the leafpacks with springs from both 54" and 64" springs


Next step was transforming it into a regular pickup truck
(The CUCV-crowd will probably kill me for this )

First I removed all the rivets.

Then I cut out the sheetmetal from an old K10, and measured completely wrong doing so

To top it of I welded it way too fast, causing it to warp

But who cares anyway

To be continued...

 

[Hubnut]

I don't think you messed it up at all. Nice job so far! I like it.

 

[76zimmer]

how did you get ahold of that truck over there?

 

[Fred_M1010]

I got it from www.blocket.se which is like Swedens equivalent to Craigslist.
The CUCVs are not very common here, but they do exist.
I guess some of them are imported from germany.

Anyway, next step was to get 64" springs in the back.
(Btw the original springpacks had 9 leaves )
I started by removing the diesel-tank and all spring brackets.

Then I moved the front hangers 6" forward, to keep the same whelbase as stock.

I also moved the crossmember, since it has some rivets in common with the hanger brackets,
and I believe they placed them together for a reason.
The frame got a little taller at the front of the crossmember though, so I made a little shim to place under it.

I deicided to do a shackle-flip also while I where at it.
Fortunatly, when I got my 64" springs I also got the springhangers from a IFS-truck.
And the front hangers made a perfect fit for my rear.
I just beefed them up some, just in case.

(I'm not sure if they would work on a K5-K20 though, I don't think the spring has the same distance from the frame on those)


The shackles got some reinforcment as well.

I mounted the rear hangers as far to the front as I could, without risking the shackle to lock when the springs get straight

(It doesn't rest on the axle in this pic.)

Coming up: front drive-shaft and shocks

 

[uao85]

Nice build, definitely dont blame you for cutting up the cucv. Can be kinda hard to drive around with a huge hole in the rear of the cab . Hopefully this will give me some motivation to finish my cucv project once I get it out of storage this weekend. Also welcome to CK5, saw you were a new member, hope you enjoy the site, there is definitely a ton of information here.

Remington

 

[str8axle55]

Welcome to the site. Looks like you have a nice build going. What`s in the garage, a Chevelle? That truck should turn some heads over there.

 

[Fred_M1010]

Thanks for the warm welcome!

Thats a -69 camaro, but it's sitting without engine at the moment.
Thats another project of mine, I'm rebuilding the 454 after an oilpump pickup incident
But good thing is, it will go faster after it's done
I'm treating it with bigger valves, some porting, and hi-comp pistons.
The cam was ok already.

But enough of that, I promised a drive-shaft write-up, so here goes:

If found some square-tubing in my friends scrap-pile.
The outer tube was about 60mm and 5mm thick, and the inner was 50mm and 4mm thick. (1" = 25.4mm)
I thought they would fit perfectly after I made a shallow cut for the seam.
But I had to grind down the whole inner tube by 0.3mm.
That was a major pain in the ass!
I used paint to see where the high-spots where when i test fitted it.

The seam in the outer tube wasn't centered, so the cut is a little offset.
Be sure to measure that before you cut, I almost didn't.

I was really lucky with the fit of the end-parts though.
Up front I used the complete front section.
For it to be a perfect fit, I made cuts on all sides of the tube, and I made them just so wide so I had to use a little force to shove the front section in

I also chamfered(is that the correct word?) the cuts so I could weld there as well.

Then I made the it the same way with the rear section.
I left a bit of the original tube on it, so it would line up better.
I also grinded some for better angles
(the grinding is not finished in this pic)

Here is the end result:

I placed grease fittings on all sides, but I don't think that is neccessary.
It's better to remove it once in a while and grease it up properly.
I noticed that if you pump to much grease into it, it will be harder to extend and compress, and I think that could hurt the transfercase.

I haven't noticed any balance issues with it yet, but I haven't drove it very fast either

 

[82355]

Yeah, I did something to my front driveshaft the last time I had it out (probably bent the slip yoke a little on a rock), it doesn't slide now, and it broke my SM465's bell housing from where the clutch fork goes through, down to the bottom of the bellhousing. So yeah, make sure it slides freely. I like the truck so far though.

Martin

 

[howdiy]

Thanks for doing the driveshaft right before I am going to do mine

 

[Stomis]

Yep good to see some driveshaft and cv clearance shots I'll be building one in a few weeks. Keep your metric garbage of this goddamn site, we're Americans damn it!!!! j/k man.

See if I got my hands on an ambulance I would chop the top to the same height as the truck and make an excursion rig out of it with a little sleeping area and food/parts storage

 

[Fred_M1010]

Keep your metric garbage of this goddamn site, we're Americans damn it!!!! j/k man.

You're just metrically challenged

 

[tRustyK5]

For anyone else building a tube shaft...ask around for "receiver tubing". It has the inside welded seam swaged out already.

Rene

 

[Ronnie4wd]

Welcome Fred

 

[howdiy]

It's like 25-30 bucks a foot though, Makes the dirveshaft cost a lot more. I read that the inside is made bigger also so it makes the driveshaft sloppier

 

[thedrip]

I went the receiver tubing route. it's a square tube drive shaft thats going to weigh a lot, the tiny bit of slop doesn't make a difference. I also like the idea of NOT weakening the driveshaft by cutting halfway through one side of the inner portion.

 

[howdiy]

That part kind of worries me a bit, oh well we'll see how it holds up. But it's still at least an 1/8" which is about the same as stock, a bit of a stress riser though

 

[Fred_M1010]

Welcome Fred

Tjena Ronnie! du känner nog till mig bättre som Grottulf, men det har du nog redan listat ut
Jag har fått lite inspiration från din K30 måste jag erkänna

Sorry guys, I'll stick to english now.

After the spring swaps I could finally try out the new tires
The tires are IROK 42/14-16LT, and the wheels are Cragar 10x16 with 4.125" BS.

I had to do some cutting, but that was expected.

With the help from my tractor I checked maximum drop and flex, so I could measure how long shocks I needed.

Since the rear shocks are mounted at an angle, and sits on the inner side of the springs, they doesn't have to be so long.
So I got a pair of Procomp 926505 with 11" stroke, and I could still relocate the lower mounts, for increased clearance.

For the front I needed longer shocks though, and I soon realised I had to move the upper mount to allow this.
I figured since I have to move the mount anyway, I could just as well get a really long shock,
so I got a pair of Procomp 936000 with 15,5" stroke for the front.
But that was quite dumb, I ran into clearance issues with the steering-shaft.
So I spent a lot of time, adjusting the mounts.
I ended up placing the shocks straight up, where the brake line bracket were.

The mounts I made from some angle iron laying around.
I used two existing holes in the frame to mount it.

Here you can see how close to the steering shaft it is.

That how the truck looks right know.
I took it for test drive with stock steering a couple of weeks ago, but I busted a draglink end, cause of the angles.
So the next thing I have to do i cross-over steering.
I hope I will have the time to complete it soon.

I'll give you a teaser for the time being:

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Nice work.

Funny how many of us live where this stuff is much easier to do and purchase yet we don't do it out of whatever lazy reason...and (another) guy in Sweden is showing us all up!
(I'm looking squarely in the mirror here.)

No criticisms for cutting up a CUCV here. Done some of it myself. How's the wiring on that thing? Still the FUBAR original, US Army "fixed", or did someone get rid of all the goofy "ambulance only" stuff and put it to either regular CUCV or civy spec?

 

[dremu]

A Chebby truck being lifted by a John Deere. A typical Sunday afternoon in the vast majority of the Midwest ... but probably not so common in Scandinavia

-- A

 

[howdiy]

On your shaft did you turn down the stock female splined part?

I'm going to have to turn mine down about 7mm

http://coloradok5.com/photos/data/500/IMG_0289s.JPG